Róger Castellón Orue

Los Nogales is a coffee farm located in the heart of Jinotega. The owner of this farm Don Róger Castellón is a well known man in the whole region not only due to his long coffee tradition but also because he owns one of the most beautiful farms (a great area and a lot of natural beauty).

Is a common day at Los Nogales. Besides the delicious cool winds around the farm, we find Don Roger inspecting thoroughly the different coffee lots and verifying that the surrounding forests are not being cut by anyone.

“This farm has been in the family for over 80 years. My father, Julio Castellòn died when I was 18 years old. This situation and being the oldest of his children I had to take care of the administration of the farm. Thanks to the coffee I was able to bring my family to a better standard of life and to raise my children abroad” says Don Roger, as he continues telling us: “Los Nogales was confiscated during the 80s but it was only until the 90s that I was able to recover it. I had to re-build the whole farm since it was completely destroyed”.

“My life is completely dedicated to my farm and the coffee mill, since this “rojito” (red coffee berry) has given me all I own at my 70 years of age. I never thought I was going to win in the contest the “cup of excellence”, but my daughter Claudia Castellón has been advising me during these last years in how to produce a better quality coffee. I feel very proud that I have achieved the presidential award.

“I do my best in order that my people understand not to touch the beautiful walnut trees that shade the coffee plantations... I know that is fancy wood.... but we cannot destroy under any circumstances these forests that give the name to this farm. Additionally the 300 men that work in the picking of the coffee know very well that these trees keep the rivers and water springs of the mountains alive” says Don Róger.

“The water coming from these mountains allows us to process near 4,500 sacks of coffee. We use the water in these huge machines that remove the pulp from the coffee berries. I believe these machines are the biggest one in the whole region” he continues saying “since we have to keep the certification, I personally explain the children of the workers, since some day they will take this mission... to protect what gives us a job and life” underlines our interviewer.

When we leave Los Nogales we enjoy the road watching the cattle and fowls flying freely. They belong to the property of the Castellon family.